Surprise Delivery(26)

“A container of your chicken noodle soup and a BLT, if you don’t mind,” I say.

“Chicken noodle soup, huh?” he asks. “You comin’ down with a cold or somethin’?”

“I just haven’t felt right the last few days,” I reply. “Stomach’s been a little dodgy.”

He gives me a smirk. “You ain’t pregnant are ya?” he asks. “When Muriel got pregnant, she was always complainin’ about –”

“No. I’m not,” I cut him off.

Judging by the look on his face, it came out sharper than I’d intended it to. I give him a soft smile, feeling the heat flaring in my cheeks.

“Sorry,” I tell him. “I didn’t mean to snap on you like that. I’m just under a lot of pressure at work.”

His face softens, and he returns my smile. “No problem, kid,” he says. “I get it. Believe me, I get it.”

“I appreciate that, Monty.”

He nods. “Lemme get you your order.”

“Thanks, Monty.”

“Anything for you, kid.”

I wait at the counter and look down at my phone, but I can’t help but feel like I’m being watched. It’s like a prickling between my shoulder blades or something. I glance around at the crowd and don’t see anybody standing there gawking at me openly – which makes me think I’m being super paranoid again.

A couple minutes later, Monty comes back and hands me a bag. I pull out my card, but he waves me off.

“It’s on the house today, kid,” he says and chuckles. “Call it the bad day discount.”

“You can’t do that, Monty,” I protest.

“Sure, I can. I own the place,” he says. “I can do whatever the fuck I want.”

I smile wide and dig whatever cash I have in my wallet out, dropping it into his tip jar. “Thank you, Monty,” I say. “That was incredibly sweet and generous.”

“Yeah well, just don’t let that get around. I got a reputation to protect,” he says.

“Your secret’s safe with me,” I wink. “Thank you again.”

“Anytime.”

Taking my bag, I barely make it out of the way before the next person in line comes barreling up. It’s like swimming upstream as I make my way out of the deli. I breathe a sigh of relief when I get back out onto the street – at least the throng of people is a bit more spaced out on the sidewalk, rather than being penned in like cattle inside the deli.

I start to head back toward my apartment when I get that itchy feeling between my shoulder blades again. I stop and turn around to find a tall man standing right behind me. His appearance is so sudden that it startles me, and I nearly drop the bag I’m carrying.

“Sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, it’s fine. No problem,” I say, though my racing heart doesn’t quite agree with that.

I look up at him and am surprised to find that I recognize him. It’s been a couple of years and he’s sporting a neatly trimmed beard now, but it doesn’t do much to soften that baby face I recognize so easily.

“Brad Walker,” I say.

“I thought that was you in the deli. I didn’t know you’re a regular at Monty’s too. I mean, what are the odds?” he replies, a wide smile on his face. “How are you, Lexi?”

I nod and give him a smile I hope looks more real than it feels. “I’m doing pretty well, thanks,” I say. “How about you? It’s been a while.”

He shrugs. “It has been a while. I missed you after you left the program,” he tells me. “But I’m doing pretty good. Didn’t know you lived in the neighborhood.”

“For a while now,” I confirm.

“Yeah, I just moved in recently,” he informs me. “I’ve got a great little place a few blocks from here.”

The mention of the program is like a dagger to the heart. I hate being reminded that I had to drop out. Brad and I had gone out a few times while I was still in the program, but there was never any real chemistry between us. I think he liked me more than I liked him, to be honest. I just didn’t have the kind of connection with him that I wanted – the kind of connection I had with Duncan.

I push the thought quickly and ruthlessly from my mind. Duncan’s gone. I can’t keep thinking about him. It does me no good and only serves to stir up a lot of crazy thoughts and feelings inside of me – and that’s about the last thing I want or need right now, given the fact that I already feel like I’m teetering on the edge of insanity because of my job.

“So, what are you doing now?” I ask. “I assume you graduated?”

He nods. “Yeah, I did, but I realized that I wanted to be a pharmacist,” he says. “So, I continued to take classes until I earned my Pharm. D.”

“Wow, you’re a pharmacist now?”

He smiles wide. “Sure am.”

“Good for you, Brad,” I smile. “That’s terrific.”

It was probably a wise move for him to make, since his bedside manner is pretty horrible. He’s not a bad guy, he’s just awkward and doesn’t relate to people particularly well. Personally, I wouldn’t have felt particularly comfortable with him as my nurse.